Project Background for the Sustainable Transportation Equity Project

Contact

Project Goals

CARB’s Sustainable Community-Based Transportation Equity Investments support the transportation needs (other than vehicle ownership) of low-income residents and those living in low-income, disadvantaged, and tribal communities. Transportation and mobility needs are not the same in all communities, so it is important to offer various options to be flexible and responsive to the community-identified needs. Currently, CARB's suite of clean mobility investments includes Planning and Capacity Building, Clean Mobility Options, Clean Mobility in Schools, and the Sustainable Transportation Equity Project (STEP).

STEP funds community-led transportation projects that address local transportation needs and increase access to key destinations while reducing vehicle miles traveled in disadvantaged or low-income communities. Each STEP grant includes multiple project types within one community that work together to make it easier for people to get around without owning a car. STEP funds a variety of clean transportation and supporting projects, such as public transit and shared mobility services, pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure, urban greening, land use planning and housing policy, workforce development, and clean transportation planning and education.

STEP aims to foster equitable transportation systems that address unique local transportation barriers; shift decision-making power to the communities the system serves; and improve the quality of life for low-income people, people of color, and residents of communities disproportionately impacted by air pollution or who lack access to housing, jobs, and services. STEP prioritizes projects that reduce passenger vehicle miles traveled and support long-term mode shift toward active transportation like walking and biking and public transit.

Guiding Legislation/Policy Drivers

The following key legislation guides the priorities and implementation of STEP:

  • Senate Bill (SB) 150 (Allen, Chapter 646, Statues of 2017): Directed CARB to assess each region’s progress on achieving regional greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction targets as required by SB 375 (Steinberg, Chapter 728, Statutes of 2008). STEP focuses on projects that support sustainable communities, attempting to address some of the complex transportation and land use challenges identified in the 2022 Progress Report for California’s Sustainable Communities and Climate Protection Act.
  • SB 350 (De León, Chapter 547, Statues of 2015): Directed CARB to conduct a study to better understand the barriers low-income residents must overcome to increase access to zero-emission and near zero-emission transportation and mobility options and develop recommendations to increase access. STEP incorporates key recommendations from CARB’s Senate Bill 350 Guidance Document, providing the flexibility to fund many different types of clean transportation and supporting projects in a single community to help meet unique needs within that community's context.
  • Climate Action Plan for Transportation Infrastructure, CAPTI, (California State Transportation Agency, 2021): Lays out recommendations for how the State should invest billions of discretionary transportation dollars annually to aggressively combat and adapt to climate change while supporting public health, safety and equity. CAPTI builds on executive orders signed by Governor Gavin Newsom in 2019 and 2020 targeted at reducing GHG emissions in transportation.

Project Funding History

STEP as a dedicated funding category began with the Fiscal Year (FY) 2019-20 Funding Plan. Since then, there have been two competitive solicitations for STEP grants, one in 2020, and one in 2023.

 

Solicitation

Number of Grants

Total Funds Awarded

FY 19-20 Planning and Capacity Building Solicitation

8

$1.7 million 

FY 19-20 Implementation Solicitation

5

$42.8 million

FY 22-23 Request for Applications

6

$35.1 million

 

  • FY 2019-20 Funding Plan
    • In 2020, CARB held public workgroup meetings and a public comment period regarding a new funding concept. This public process culminated in the development of STEP.
  • FY 2019-20 STEP Grant Solicitation 
    • In 2020, CARB released competitive solicitations for two types of STEP applications: one for STEP Planning Grants and one for STEP Implementation Grants.
    • Applicants to this first solicitation requested $109 million, totaling five times more funding than the amount available.
    • FY 2019-20 funding: In 2020, CARB awarded $17.5 million to 3 STEP Implementation Grants and $1.7 million to 8 STEP Planning Grants.
    • FY2021-22 funding: CARB awarded $25.3 million to 3 STEP Implementation Grants from the 2020 solicitation. This included 2 new grants and the remaining budget from a previously partially awarded grant.
  • FY 2022-23 STEP and Clean Mobility in Schools (CMIS) Joint Request for Applications (RFA)
    • In 2023, CARB released a joint competitive Request for Applications for CMIS and STEP applications. The RFA was oversubscribed by over six times the available funding.
    • FY 2022-23 funding: In 2024, CARB awarded $17.2 million to 3 STEP grants.
    • FY 2023-24 funding: Also in 2024, CARB awarded $17.9 million to 4 STEP grants from the 2023 RFA. This included 3 new grants and the remaining budget from a previously partially awarded grant.

Recent Project/Policy Changes

CARB held three public workgroups and a public comment period in spring 2023 to discuss changes to CMIS and STEP prior to releasing the RFA in summer 2023. The main updates CARB made based on this public process were to align requirements between Planning, CMIS, and STEP and to develop a streamlined, two-phased application process and simplified application materials to facilitate access to funding.

In FY 2022-23 RFA, STEP also expanded eligibility to low-income communities, not only disadvantaged communities, and all tribes, not only federally recognized tribes. These changes were made to make STEP grants available to more communities across California. 

Finally, in FY 2022-23 RFA, STEP funded only implementation grants because the Planning and Capacity Building grants split off to form a new funding source dedicated specifically to planning.

Solicitation Materials

The FY 2022-23 Joint Request for Applications opened July 24, 2023, and closed November 3, 2024. Materials are posted on the Request for Applications webpage.

Planning, CMIS and STEP Joint RFA Documents and Results

Draft Requirements and Public Process

CARB hosted three public workgroup meetings between December 2022 and March 2023 to gather public feedback on the design of the 2023 Request for Applications and used input from these meetings to develop a Draft Requirements and Criteria document. The Draft Requirements and Criteria underwent public comment in March 2023 and stakeholder comments from that period were considered when finalizing the Request for Applications.

STEP 2020 Solicitation Documents and Results

STEP 2020 Proposal Guidance Documents

The resources linked below were intended to help with project and proposal development during STEP's 2020 solicitation. CARB updated these resources for the 20223 Planning and Capacity Building, CMIS, and STEP Request for Applications.